Essential Oils Extraction Method
Essential Oils are a highly concentrated liquid that comes from plants, trees, roots, herbs and seeds. This liquid is what protects the plants from disease and insects, it also helps them grow, live and give them their scent.
The most common way of extracting essential oils is by distillation, which is mostly used when extracting essential oils from leaves, flowers, seeds, roots and stems.
Some essential oils that are extracted this way are: Lavender, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Lilac, Lemongrass, Rosemary and Spearmint.
Expression is another way of retrieving essential oils, this method is used to take oils from the rind of fruits such as grapefruit, lemon, lime and orange.
Enfleurage is the oldest method of extracting essential oils, but is not used to often today because it is highly expensive to extract oils this way.
To extract essential oils this way flower petals are placed on a layer of glass that is spread with a thin layer of fat.
The fat collects the oil and it is extracted from that using alcohol. The alcohol evaporates leaving the essential oil.
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Essential Oils are probably one of the first known medicines, dating back thousands of years.
Oils from plants were used by the Egyptians and Romans and are refered to many times in the Old Testament.
When using essential oils in my products I like to keep it simple. I don’t think you need a whole bunch of oils to help treat conditions.
I do my homework and use the best essential oils for the skin, muscles or face in whatever I’m making.
There are products out there that claim to help skin conditions, sore muscles etc. They are natural, but sometimes have six plus different essential oils and carrier oils. Be Careful!
Not all essential oils mix well together. They may all be right for the condition, but contradict each other when put together. I like to keep it simple.
I have suffered from Eczema my whole life and this is why I make my own soap, creams and lotions. I can use everything I make without having an outbreak…keep it simple.
Before making my own natural skin care products I tried others that claimed to help eczema but some of them just made it worse, I found that the more ingredients the creams and lotions contained the less they helped.
So that is why I try to keep it simple. I don’t see the need to mix 6 or 7 different essential oils in a cream when two or three have the properties to do the same thing.
Very interesting.
I have used Essential Oils and have enjoyed them immensely which brought me to your article.
As a beginner the extraction methods were new to me and was fascinated by the process described. It seems by far to be the best method quality wise. Of course saying that as a newbie. I could be all wrong.
Your article was an open book to something new and very interesting. In a very short article I felt much more comfortable with the subject.
How long have you been doing this.
Hello Robert. I have been using essential oils for 30 years now. I do not make my own, as it is a complicated process I leave to the professionals. I love using them in my every day life and in soaps, creams and lotions.